KUALA LUMPUR – The Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) has hinted that not all sports officials will be able to join the contingent at the Paris Olympic Games in July due to a shortage of accreditation cards.
Malaysia’s Chef de Mission, Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin said this after chairing the Olympic Games team managers meeting at Wisma OCM today.
This comes after the number of athletes qualifying for this year’s Olympics being not as encouraging as previous editions.
For example, the diving squad only saw Rhodict Benedict Lises qualifying for Paris, while the national hockey squad failed in their qualification campaign in January.
As a result, some sports officials may have to assist and monitor the progress of their athletes remotely due to the limitation on the number of accreditation cards.
“Unlike other sporting events, the Olympics impose strict conditions, with the number of officials limited depending on the number of participating athletes.
“The more athletes who qualify, the greater the number of officials OCM can send to help facilitate travel processes, preparations, logistics, sports science support systems, and medical support. The Olympic Games organisation system will automatically finalise the slots for officials based on the number of qualified athletes.
“This means that the accreditation cards or AD cards are quite limited. This is further compounded by several other requirements introduced by Paris 2024 organisers, including stricter security controls and a transportation system that does not give priority to NOCs (National Olympic Committees).
“Due to the limited quota of officials, we have to accept the fact that not all team managers can go to Paris. Some of the team managers will be working remotely or from Malaysia.
“I hope this group of team managers will provide full cooperation and together monitor the progress of their athletes from Malaysia,” added Hamidin.
Five athletes have secured their spots in Paris so far, which includes Nur Shazrin Mohd Latif (sailing), Johnathan Wong (shooting), Ariana Nur Dania Mohd Zairi (archery), Nur Aisyah Mohd Zubir (road cycling), and Rhodict.
With the current situation in mind, OCM expects a total of 20 athletes to make up the national contingent for the Olympics, including those selected through wild cards and unused quotas. – March 18, 2024